Created by the public interest law firm Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal in Washington, D.C.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Conservation Groups Win Battle Over Everglades Mining Permits

Capping our eight-year legal battle on behalf of the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council over Corps of Engineers permits authorizing the destruction of thousands of acres of ecologically valuable wetlands immediately adjacent to Everglades National Park, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has affirmed a ruling by federal district Judge William Hoeveler that the permits were issued in violation of the Clean Water Act and that the destructive mining – which is also occurring in close proximity to the principal drinking water supply for Miami-Dade county – should not proceed at least until the Corps applies a far more environmentally protective standard. Download the Court of Appeals’ opinion here.